Wristwatch Review: My 1970s Vintage Orient Tri Star 21-Jewel Watch

Over the summer, I picked up this 1970s vintage Orient watch from an Etsy Seller that sold me a refurbished Oris. It looks identical to the Orient Tri-Star but it doesn't have 3 stars on the dial. I've read that it is common for some Tri Star watches from the early 70s to not have three stars on the dial. No matter. I love the cool vintage look of this automatic watch, but it does have a few idiosyncrasies.

Orient Watch Movement

First idiosyncrasy:  this watch is an automatic--powered by the wearers body movement. You cannot wind the watch with the crown. If you want to power it up for the day, you have to whip it around and pump it up and down about 25 times or so to get it wound up and running. I joke that it's like a vintage fitness watch. If you want it to run overnight, you have to repeat the process when you go to bed. Honestly, it's a good excuse for a watch winder. At this age, this lightly serviced vintage watch simply doesn't have much of a power reserve. The watch does seem to keep good time for a couple of days of wear.

Watch Size

My second idiosyncrasy: this watch has a 36mm diameter dial.  While that is a common vintage size, it's a little small for modern wearers in western counties. The original bracelet was also a bit short for my large wrists so I replaced it with an expansion band from Walmart.  The end result was excellent.

Overall

I really like this watch for its character and its mysterious origin. For about $40, it was a pretty good deal for a used mechanical watch. There are certainly better performing watches from Orient today. This one is a neat collectible novelty.

Sharp Watch Shoutout: The Timex Mod 44 44mm Leather Strap Watch

 If you are looking for an unusual watch with an interesting look, check out the Timex Mod 44 44mm Leather Strap Watch. It has a retro-futuristic looking case with a gold tone that looks like bronze. It also has numerals at 12, 6, and 9 that look like something from the 70s. It quite simply looks like a watch out of a science fiction movie. A watch this interesting simply doesn't come along at under $50 very often.  That's why this Timex earns a Sharp Watch Shoutout.

Timex Mod 44 Leather Strap Watch (Amazon photo)

The Timex Mod 44 also has an interesting TX logo design on the crown. It's just one of many ways that the watch captures the eye.

Timex Mod 44 Profile and Leather Strap

If you're interested in this Timex Mod 44 watch with a gold tone, check it out here on Amazon. In the ephemeral world of fashion watches, this sharp-looking watch might end up as a rare gem. If you'd like to see a similar watch with a multifunction dial in black, check out this Timex Mod 44.

TGIF: The Pulsar Watch Brand Is Gone

In our universe, a Pulsar is a neutron star which is the remnant of a massive star that has undergone a supernova explosion. They remain spinning quickly out in the cosmos and appearing to pulse strong beams of electromagnetic radiation as they spin. In the universe of watches, the brand appears to be the same. A dead star that we remember in flashes of brilliance. Seiko quietly discontinued their Pulsar brand a few years ago (2023?) to focus on their global brand Alba.

"Since it's launch in 1972, Pulsar watches have stood for a real value, quality brand of the Seiko Watch Corporation. However, Pulsar watches are no longer manufactured and they have made way for the truly global 'ALBA WATCHES.'

Alba watches offer the same exceptional value, style and quality you would expect from SEIKO Watch Corporation.

We encourage you to click below to discover the Alba range of timepieces."

My Pulsar Dive-Style Watch in brilliant blue

This is probably old news to many watch enthusiasts. I just found it intriguing that I could no long find the brand on Amazon. It's a bit of a bummer since I have a few Pulsar watches in my collection and always found them to be a great value: high quality at an affordable price point. I like the dressy sophistication of my Pulsar Chronograph and the brilliant blue of my Pulsar diver-style watch.

Pulsar Chronograph Watch

If you'd like to read more on the rich history of the Pulsar brand, check out my 2015 post: Pulsar Watches - Past and Present. It can serve as a suitable requiem.

As of this writing, if you search for Pulsar watches, you can still find them listed in online auctions and a few sold via Walmart.com.

Watch Wearing Wednesday: Aeropostale Quartz Watch for Men

I wore this Aeropostale Quartz Watch for men the other day. It's an attractive watch with a beautiful blue dial and fixed non-rotating bezel. It has modern field watch markings that give the watch a strong masculine look. It was a very low cost watch pickup at $25 or less from Burlington. But, it has some drawbacks.

Aeropostale Quartz Watch

My primary issue with this watch is that I don't like the way the watch bracelet attaches to the case with a narrow link. It won't be easy to find a replacement bracelet, remove the current bracelet, or attach a NATO strap. A non-replaceable bracelet is one of the many problems with cheap watches that I've encountered.  This watch also fits a little loose and I'll need to carefully remove a link. Perhaps these are minor quibbles, but they do keep me from fully enjoying this timepiece.

If you do like the looks of this watch, you might search for the brand. I've seen many listings for Aeropostale watches on Poshmark, Etsy, and EBay.

Watch Review: Armitron (Model 20/5403TT) Men's Two-Tone and Silver Day Date Dress Watch

I recently bought this Armitron Two-Tone Day Date Dress Watch (Model 20/5403TT) at Burlington. It looked great and was only $19.99 at the discount and closeout chain.

Armitron Model 20/5403TT Two-Tone Dress Watch

Watch Style and Features

This all stainless steel watch has a quartz movement, 50 meter (165 feet) of water resistance, and a fold-over clasp with double button safety closure. As a dress watch, this Armitron makes effective use of gold and silver tones and shiny and matte surfaces. The inner links of the bracelet are a bronze-like gold-tone with a flat finish. The outer links are a shiny silver-tone. The dial is what Armitron calls a gray sun-ray dial with gold tones for odd-hour marker batons and even-hour numerals. The dial is ringed by a sloping gray minute track that slopes up to an inner bezel with a shiny gold-tone. The crown is gold toned in keeping with the two-tone design of the watch while the case is a shiny silver-tone.

Armitron Model 20/5403TT Two-Tone Dress Watch

Watch Dimensions

This Armitron has a 41mm round case that is 10mm thick. The bracelet is 20mm wide and generously sized. It fits my wrist perfectly with no additional room for expansion.

Overall

Armitron has created a very nice looking watch for a remarkably low price. Like many low price quartz watches, the minute hand can sometimes jump a little when you push it in to set the watch. However, with a little fiddling, I was able to set mine to within 5 seconds of the atomic clocks of the U.S. Naval Observatory as shown on Time.gov. I like the simplicity and rich looks of this watch. However, it's almost too pretty and might tempt a woman in your life might abscond with it and make it a "boyfriend watch." Overall, this is a great dress watch at a great price. I like it.

Armitron Model 20/5403TT Two-Tone Dress Watch

Availability

Fashion watches come and go. This exact watch doesn't seem to be available on Amazon.  However, it's currently available here at Walmart for $32.99 (regularly $39.99). You might also be able to luck into this watch at a Burlington store. A similar watch with a different bracelet and Roman numeral markers can be found here on Amazon. 

Watch Wearing Wednesday: Walmart Automatic

My Walmart Automatic is still going strong since I first posted about it way back in 2011. It was only $50 when I first bought it. At the time, I was new to watch collecting and it was a cool way to get a glimpse at the inner workings of an automatic watch.

Walmart Automatic Watch

The watch has a Chinese movement with a few internal wheels highlighted in a golden bronze. As a Walmart exclusive, it was probably built to a strict price specification. I can only imagine the arm twisting that Walmart buyers applied to bring this watch to market with a $50 price tag. Needless to say, the attractive diver-style bezel does not rotate. However, the watch has a stainless steel case and caseback.

I've been informally testing this watch for accuracy and so far--in 12 hours--it has gained about 25 seconds versus time.gov. That's not bad for the casual uses I have for this watch. You just may have to adjust the time once a week or so.

An Iconic Watch: The Seiko Prospex "Alpinist" Watch

Every once in awhile, it's fun to search for iconic watches that you read about in watch articles and see posted about in watch communities. I like to see if they are watches that I can aspire to own or that would be appealing to me. One such watch is the Seiko Prospex "Alpinist." I've seen it mentioned as a more affordable alternative to watches like the Rolex Explorer. While it shares tool watch or field watch mission of great watches like the Explorer, the Seiko Alpinist does it in its own style and with its own heritage. This is the first Alpinist that I found on Amazon. It is the SPB121J1 and it has the green dial, sapphire crystal, date cyclops, and a very cool internal rotating compass bezel that can be used in combination with the hour hand for navigation. You can find this great watch here on Amazon. As of this writing, it comes in around $600. For me, it's certainly a high price, but not unattainable.

Seiko Alpinist SBJ121J1 (Amazon Photo)

There is a second Seiko Alpinist list on  Amazon.  It comes with a stainless steel band and a deep blue dial. The look is a bit more contemporary that the classic green and gold combo of our first example. The model for this one is SPB117J1. It's a tough choice between the two, but the SPB117J1 is about $100 to $150 more than the leather strap model. This watch also has an exhibition caseback.

Seiko SPB117J1 (Amazon photo)

It's hard to believe that the Seiko Prospex Alpinist has evolved from the 1959 Laurel Alpinist--a watch that was aimed at Japan's own mountain men. Like the Explorer, this watch line has evolved with the times. If you'd like to take a look at this version of the Alpinist, bang it here to visit the Amazon listing.